Apparatus for feeding perforated web to a printing machine



March 19, 1968 N. G. FISHER 3,373,684

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING PERFORATED WEB TO A PRINTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 T NORMAN G. FISHER 35 INVENTOR.

/ownsend w lownsend March 19, 1968 N. G. FISHER 3,373,684

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING PERFORATED WEB TO A PRINTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 26 7 L 1' 5a: l r il O & h 9 E NORMAN G. FISHER INVENTOR.

ARM

PLATE, Pug; 50AM ROTATIO lownsend and lownsend 3,373,684 APPARATUS FOR FEEDING PERFORATED WEB TO A PRINTING MACHINE Norman G. Fisher, Rte. 3, Box 975, Woodland, Calif. 95695 Filed Oct. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 497,700 8 Claims. (Cl. 101-228) This invention relates to an apparatus for feeding perforated edged paper through a printing machine.

In modern machines, accounting documents are prepared on form paper having regular perforations along the edges of the paper. The perforations are so arranged as to form means for registering the documents relative to the machine. In this way the machine is enabled to machine read information on the document with registration being insured by the perforated edges. It is common practice to prepare partially blank forms with blank areas and, in some cases, printed areas relatively registered to the holes or perforations on the side of the paper so that the blanks may be filled in by hand or machine and thereafter the indicia contained within the blank spaces read in reference to the perforations.

It is the object of this invention to provide a paper feed mechanism which operably engages perforations in such a manner as to register the paper within the printing station in such a way as to imprint the printed indicia at 10- cations accurately with respect to the perforations on the side of the paper.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a mechanism of relatively simple character and which can be readily adapted for use in conjunction with standard multigraph type printing machines. Previously, the difficulty of registration of such forms rendered it impractical to use the aforesaid type printing apparatus for printing machine readable forms. With the present invention, the standard multigraph type machine can be readily adapted for printing machine readable forms accurately registered with the perforations on the sides of the forms.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mechanism for sequentially feeding perforated forms and syn chronization with the printing head movement of the printer in such a way as to index the form so that printed information can be printed adjacent to the end margins of the form. This is accomplished by reindexing the form subsequent to a printing operation on a preceding section of the form so that the next imprintation will occur as close as desired to the previously printed indicia.

Another object of this invention is to provide a form feeding mechanism employing a star type braking device in which a cam arm or tooth engages the star wheel to cause a reindexing of the form subsequent to printing and a locking function at the termination of the reindexing to there hold the form until the next printing cycle occurs at the printer.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a form registering and feeding device useful in conjunction with the standard feed mechanism of a multigraph type printer in which pronged tracks engage the perforation of the forms and which further incorporates a brake device engageable with the pronged tracks to cause the pronged track to stop form movement at selected timed intervals synchronized with the movement of the printing plate in order to obtain precise registration of the printing plate relative to the perforations.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a standard multigraph machine with the form feeding device of the present invention attached and showing the relationship of a "nited States Patent "ice continuous web of forms passing through the feeding device to the multigraph machine.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation showing the form feeding device of the present invention in which the multigraph to which the feeding device is attached is shown in broken lines.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the star wheel and cam of the form feeding device.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view showing the cam and cam follower for actuating the form feeding device.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the form feeding device taken at line 55 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6A is a fragmentary top view showing the perfo- I rations on the side of the form and the relative engagement of the pins with the perforations during the rest interval of operation.

FIG. 6B is a side elevation of FIG. 6A showing the relationship of the cam and star wheel mechanisms.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6B showing the device in the form moving phase of operation.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views similar to FIGS. 6A and 6B respectively with the braking mechanism being in a condition of operation immediately prior to the braking or rest phase.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing the relative sequence of operation of the various components of the feeding device.

The present invention is designed to operate with the standard multigraph type machine which normally comprises a drum type printing plate carrying member, indicated at drum A, which is arranged by an appropriate motor mechanism to rotate in a continuous sequence. A platen or pressure roller B is arranged to engage drum A in relative rotational movement with paper arranged to be sandwiched between pressure roller B and drum A during the printing cycle.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, there is provided a continuous form web C of machine readable forms of the type including perforations located at regular intervals along the two outer edges of the form. The perforations may take the form of elongated slots or circular holes as well as other configurations currently used in the art. Such forms are normally scored or perforated transversely at regular intervals at positions as indicated at 26. The perforated or scored lines 26 are conventionally arranged to form the upper or lower margin ends of each form unit when severed. Such form units may comprise information blanks, blank checks, or other individual information carrying unit as conventionally used in conjunction with machine readable form material.

In the present invention, the form feeding apparatus D is arranged with aperture engaging prongs or pins 28 connected to sprocket drive wheels 29 and 30 via a chain 31 in such a manner as to allow a plurality of the prongs to move in a relatively horizontal stretch along the feed line upon rotation of the sprockets 29 and 30.

The pins are spaced at distances equal to the spacing between apertures 0r perforations 25 to enable the pins to register and lock the form web at controlled positions. Control of chain 31 is occasioned through a star wheel 35 journaled on shaft 36 along with sprocket 30 whereby the ability of chain 31 to move is determined by the locking arrangement of star wheel 35.

Web C is guided at its input by a bottom guide 40 and a top guide 41 in a circular path through a horizontal input guide section generally indicated at 43 at which pins 28 are arranged to engage the apertures 25 of web C. Thereafter, the web is traveled to the printing station generally indicated at 45 which is on a line between the center of the rotational axis of drum A and pressure roller or platen B. The guides 40 and 41 are supported by appropriate supports 48 which hold the guide in relatively rigid alignment in relation to the multigraph machine and the pin carrying chain 31.

As previously explained, the standard multigraph machine is arranged to have drum A rotate at a regular or continuous rate. Printing platen or pressure roller B is similarly arranged to rotate with drum A. Pressure of the pressure roller B against drum A causes paper sandwiched between to be carried through the machine and printed. In order to effectuate the timing required for appropriate form feeding, the conventional apparatus for controlling drum A and platen B is utilized.

The motor is arranged via belt to drive a pulley or sheave 51. Gear 52 is connected to rotate with pulley 51 which drives drum A. Gear 52 thus in timed relation is engaged to rotate a feed timing gear 55. A cam 56 is connected to the shaft 57 of timing gear for rotation therewith. A bell crank 60 is pivoted at 61 having one arm 62 provided with a cam following wheel 63 engaged with cam 56. The opposite arm 64 of bell crank 60 is formed with a star wheel engaging tooth 65 which upon rotation of bell crank 60 engages or disengages the respective teeth 68 of star wheel 35; this in turn locks or unlocks pins 28. It can thus be seen that cam 56 upon rotation will cause pivotal movement of bell crank 60. Cam 56 being formed with an area 70 of reduced diameter and an area 71 of enlarged diameter acts against cam follower 63 to cause tooth 65 to engage with the star wheel when the reduced diameter '70 is engaged with cam follower 63. A biasing spring 74 is arranged to provide downward biasing pressure on tooth 65, said spring being engaged with a spring plate 75 attached to the outer end of arm 64 and to the frame assembly 76. Forward movement of web C is obtained by a paper moving roller mounted between chain 31 and the platen or pressure roller B. Said roller 80 is driven through a gear train including gears 81, 82, and 83 which are in turn driven by gear 52, which is continually rotating through power derived from basic power source or motor 20.

A feed platen 85 is arranged immediately over feed or paper moving roller 80 in such a way as to engage the paper and force the paper against the rotating roller 80 at appropriate timed intervals. When this occurs, the web C is forcefully fed through the printing apparatus, that is, between drum A and pressure roller B. Movement of the pressure platen 85 is also occasioned through movement of bell crank 60 via a universal fitting 86 mounted on frame assembly 76 and which carries a ball mounted arm 87. The arm carrying ball and socket joint 88 is connected to arm 64 between the pivotal point 61 and tooth 65 in such a way as to force pressure platen 85 down when arm 64 is raised or elevated as occurs when the larger diameter section 71 of cam 56 engages cam follower 63. In this condition it is to be observed that tooth 65 is out of locking engagement with star wheel 35, thus, the two conditions allow the web C to be fed through the printing apparatus.

When the reverse action occurs, that is, when the reduced diameter section 70 of cam 56 is engaged with the cam follower 63, arm 64 is forced downwardly which causes the pressure platen or roller 85 to lift to disengage the paper drive. Under these conditions tooth 65 locks star wheel 35 to forcefully retain the web in a static position.

As can be seen in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the web C extends from pins 28 between the paper moving drive roller 80 and the pressure platen or roller 85 to a position between the printing platen B and drum A. The printing station is indicated on drum A to start at arrow 90. In this position the pressure platen or roller 85 is raised so that there is no drive on the web. The smaller radius 70 is in engagement with cam follower wheel 63 which positions tooth 65 in locked engagement between two teeth 68 of star wheel 35. In this position the form has been registered so that the printing will start when the print station start position 90 is in proper registration with the form of web C. At

that time, determined by the interdriven gears, the cam 55 will move to a position where the larger radius section 71 is engaged with cam follower wheel 63. This causes two things to occur; first, tooth 65 raises freeing its locked contact with star wheel 35; secondly, through the linkage of arm and socket joint 88 the pressure platen or roller 85 will engage with web C to cause the paper to be driven. At the same instant, the starting part of the printing plate is in printing engagement against pressure roller B. During this condition, the form is rolled through the press while simultaneously being printed.

At the termination of the printing, as indicated by the termination of the printing plate 92 shown in FIGS. 8A and B, the smaller radius section 70 of the cam is again aligned with cam follower 63 thus causing tooth 65 to move downwardly against star wheel 35 while at approximately the same time, roller 85 is raised through arm and socket joint linkage 88.

In many instances, it is necessary to print adjacent the head or the tail end of the form section. In order to accomplish this function, it is desirable to reindex the web after the printing. This is accomplished by allowing the tooth 65 to engage the star wheel 35, as shown in FIG. SE, at the apex of the star wheel, thus causing a counter rotation of the star wheel as the tooth is progressed downwardly. It is also desirable to have the pressure platen or roller 85 release slightly prior to the time that the tooth 65 lowers so that the drive mechanism afforded by the paper moving platen 80 does not conflict with the reverse or stopping action of tooth 65 with star wheel 35. This relationship is best seen in the timing chart of FIG. 9 where 360 of rotation of drum A is indicated by the base line and where the position of cam 56 is seen by line 101. Movement of bell crank 60 is seen by line 102 and movement of pressure roller 85 is seen by line 103. It can be seen that at the starting phase the cam is locked in registration with the lower radius section 70 with cam follower 63 in which condition tooth 65 is in the lower or star wheel locking position and roller 85 is in the raised position. The first event to occur at 105 is the raising of tooth 65. Shortly thereafter, roller 85 is lowered as indicated at 106. The delay occurs by virtue of the length of arm 65 at the end of which is located tooth 65 and the fact that the linkage to roller 85 is intermediate the length of the arm so that the tooth 65 will disengage shortly prior to the lowering engagement of pressure roller 85. At the termination of printing, the first event to occur at 107 is the raising of the roller 85 whereafter tooth 65 follows to engage the rear edge of a tooth 68 on star wheel 35 to force it to move backwards until the apex 110 of the tooth is nested intermediate to two teeth 68 of the star wheel. This causes the return of the form to a point where printing can next occur as close as desired to the margin of the form. Adjustment to accomplish the aforesaid timing can occur as seen in FIG. 4 by slots 112 and adjustment nuts 113. By virtue of the nuts 113, the cam 56 can be shifted to accomplish the precise timing necessary. It is noted also that the entire cam 56 can be replaced to change the timing relationship if different lengths of forms are to be used with the device. The slots 112 form the mechanism for varying the specific timing of the forms with respect to the printing press.

Tooth 65 is adjusted for its action against star wheel 35 by a slide mount 115 which allows the tooth to be moved either forwardly or backwardly to obtain the desired alignment of tooth 65 with star wheel 35. The aforesaid two adjustments allow the feeding mechanism to be adjusted to receive forms of somewhat varying requirements and to be adjusted accordingly. It can thus be seen that the form web C is fed through the printing apparatus at predetermined cyclic times at each rotation of printing drum A, and that the start of web movement occurs at an exact interval of the drum when the pins 28 are free to move by virtue of the trigger release afforded by the movement of tooth 65. After printing, the form is then returned to a fixed starting position relative to the registration holes previously formed in the web. In this way the starting action is precisely timed and registered to fulfill the necessary index requirements for perforated form feeding.

While one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for feeding to a printing press, form material of the type having regularly spaced feed apertures formed in the outer margins of the form material, form material drive means mounted to sequentially engage the form material to drive said form material to the printing press, registration means engageable With the apertures of said form material to register said form at predetermined positions relative the printing press, timing means operable in timed relation with said printing press, actuating means responsive to said timing means, said actuating means connected to said feed means and to said paper registration means and operable in a first condition to actuate said form material feed means and release said form material registration means, and operable in a second condition to release said form material feed means and lock said form material registration means in a fixed position relative said printing press.

2. A device for feeding to a printing press, form material of the type having regularly spaced feed apertures formed in the outer margins of the form material, forrn material drive means mounted adjacent the printing press and operable in a first condition to frictionally engage the form material to drive the form material into the printing press and operable in a second condition to be disengaged from driving relationship with said form material, registration pin means engageable with apertures of said form material, registration means-control mean operable in a first condition to position said registration means at a fixed predetermined position, and operable in a said second position to allow the registration means to be freely movable with movement of said form material, timing means connected in timed relation to said printing press, actuating means connected to operate in response to said timing means and connected to said control means and said form material drive means, said timing means timed to move said registration control means to the first position and thence move said form material drive means to said first position in timed relation to the movement of said printing press and to thereafter in similar response to printing press movement to move said form material drive means to said second position and thence said control means to the first position.

3. A device for feeding to a printing press, form material of the type having regularly spaced feed apertures formed in the outer margins of the form material, form material drive means mounted adjacent the printing press and operable in a first condition to frictionally engage the form material to drive the form material into the printing press and operable in a second condition to be disengaged from driving relationship with said form material, form material guide means positioned to guide form material to said form material drive means, an endless loop mounted adjacent said guide means positioned for movement parallel the direction of travel of said form material along said guide means, pins mounted on said loop positioned for continuous engagement along a portion of said loop with the apertures of said form material as said form material is moved along said guide means, a shaft connected for rotation with said loop, a star Wheel mounted for rotation with said shaft, a lever arm pivotally mounted to pivot to two operating positions having a tooth adapted for locking engagement and disengagement with said star wheel upon pivotal movement of said lever arm in the two operating positions respectively, linkage means connected to said lever arm and said drive means to cause said drive means to be in the first condition When said lever arm is in the position with said tooth disengaged from said star wheel and in the second condition when the lever arm is in the position with the tooth in locked engagement with the star Wheel, timing cam means mounted on said printer for rotation in sequence with the movement of said printer and a cam follower engaged with said cam and connected to said lever arm operable to pivot the lever arm through the two operative positions in response to the contours of said cam.

4. A device according to claim 3 and wherein said star wheel is formed With a plurality of triangular teeth and the tooth on said arm is adapted to engage one edge of a tooth on the star wheel to cause the star wheel to move to index said pins to a predetermined position as the arm is pivoted to move the tooth of the arm to a locked engaged position with the star wheel.

5. A device according to claim 3 and wherein said star wheel is formed with a plurality of teeth and the tooth on said arm is adapted to engage one edge of a tooth on the star wheel to cause the star wheel to move in a direction to index said pins to a predetermined rearward position as the arm is pivoted to move the tooth of the arm to a locked engaged position with the star Wheel whereby the form is retracted to an indexed position rearwardly of its position during the printing phase of operation.

6. A device according to claim 3 and wherein said star Wheel is formed with a plurality of triangular teeth and the tooth on said arm is adapted to engage one edge of a tooth on the star Wheel to cause the star wheel to move to index said pins to a predetermined position as the arm is pivoted to move the tooth of the arm to a locked engaged position with the star wheel and means to adjust ably regulate the position of the tooth with respect to the arm to adjust the relative movement of the star Wheel.

7. A device according to claim 3 and wherein said cam is adjustably mounted on said printer and means for locking said cam in predetermined fixed positions of adjustment to regulate the timed intervals for operation of said lever arm.

8. A device for feeding to a printing press, form material of the type having regularly spaced feed apertures formed in the outer margins of the form material, form material paper guide means mounted adjacent said printer to guide form material to said printer, paper feed means operable to subsequently feed paper to said printer along said guide means, indexing means engaged with the apertures of said form material along said guide means, a lever arm mounted along said guide means operably connected to said indexing and said feed means and operble to engage and disengage said feed means and to engage said indexing means in a fixed predetermined position during intervals wherein said feed means are disengaged, and timing means connected to said printer and operable to operate said lever arm means in timed relation to the sequence printing operation of the printer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,095,292 10/1937 Sherman 101-47 2,721,077 10/1955 Russell et al 22657 2,824,736 2/1958 Allen 226-58 2,946,586 7/1960 Pityo 226154 3,049,078 8/1962 Smith l0l228 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner. J. R. FISHER, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,373,684 March 19, 1968 Norman G. Fisher It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, lines 33, 37 and 58, cancel "multigraph type", each occurrence; same column 1, lines 70 and 71, and column 2,

line 2, "multigraph", each occurrence, should read printing Column 2, line 4, "multi-graph" should read printing machine line 29, "multigraph type" should read printing Column 3, lines 1 and 3, "multigraph", each occurrence, should read printing Signed and sealed this 5th day of May 1970.

(SEAL) Attcst:

Edward M. madm n. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR-

Attesfing Offioer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A DEVICE FOR FEEDING TO A PRINTING PRESS, FORM MATERIAL OF THE TYPE HAVING REGULARLY SPACED FEED APERTURES FORMED IN THE OUTER MARGINS OF THE FORMS MATERIAL, FORM MATERIAL DRIVE MEANS MOUNTED TO SEQUENTIALLY ENGAGE THE FORM MATERIAL TO DRIVE SAID FORM MATERIAL TO THE PRINTING PRESS, REGISTRATION MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH THE APERTURES OF SAID FORM MATERIAL TO REGISTER SAID FORM AT PREDETERMINED POSITIONS RELATIVE THE PRINTING PRESS, TIMING MEANS OPERABLE IN TIMED RELATION WITH SAID PRINTING PRESS, ACTUATING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID TIMING MEANS, SAID ACTUATING MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID FEED MEANS AND TO SAID PAPER REGISTRATION MEANS AND OPERABLE IN A FIRST CONDITION TO ACTUATE SAID FORM MATERIAL FEED MEANS AND RELEASE SAID FORM MATERIAL REGISTRATION MEANS, AND OPERABLE IN A SECOND CONDITION TO RELEASE SAID FORM MATERIAL FEED MEANS AND LOCK SAID FORM MATERIAL REGISTRATION MEANS IN A FIXED POSITION RELATIVE SAID PRINTING PRESS. 